MINUTE BIOPLASTS IN BLOOD. 



205 



"Particles of living matter of extreme minuteness in 

 enormous number, first described by me in 1863. 



The fibrin, or that material of the blood which coagulates 

 spontaneously, is formed by the bioplasm of the white blood 

 corpuscles and those more minute particles of bioplasm 

 which I already described as existing in immense numbers 

 in the blood. The coagulated matter which we call fibrin, 

 and which forms the firm substance of a clot of blood, is 

 said to have been in a soluble state, or dissolved in the 

 blood as long as that fluid circulated in the living body, but 

 I believe it would be nearer the truth to say that fibrin is a 

 substance which results from the death of bioplasm. Many 

 of the minute particles of the bioplasm of blood die almost 

 immediately after the circulating fluid has escaped from the 

 vessels. The blood, then, as it circulates in the vessels of 

 the living body, should, I think, be regarded as fluid holding 

 in suspension particles of semi-fluid bioplasm, and red blood 

 corpuscles, and the cavity of the vessels might be compared 

 with the interior of a cell. Indeed, the cell of vallisneria, 



not one of these has a cell-wall. They are not "cytes" at all. In the 

 early stages of their existence they are simply masses of living matter. 



' Many writers will not admit that living matter differs from matter 

 of other kinds, and they will not allow the term vitality to be employed 

 at present. But as the tendency of thought is towards vitality, one 

 finds in recent writings many new facts which tell in favour of that 

 doctrine are admitted, although different terms are employed. Many 

 of the views advocated are not very different from those advanced 

 in papers published by me many years ago. By the use of a different 

 terminology, a reader not familiar with the literature of the subject is 

 likely to be completely misled, and may .draw very incorrect infe- 

 rences upon the matters referred to. For a general account of bioplasts, 

 and the changes which occur during the formation of tissue, the reader 

 is referred to "Bioplasm : an Introduction to the Study of Physiology 

 and Medicine," 1872. 



